Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Bye, Big Sis
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
11 May 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Bye, Big Sis

                                                                                                          Bye, Big Sis

Cred befo’ ‘Ree cried: R-E-S-P-E-C-T for

the record; Feminist befo’ we knew its name

pre-Panther Radical, Mama Harriet-style, you

packed that Luger before there was unpacking,

centering, contextualizing.

You trained with brothers who became BPP

fore there was intersectionality.

You spoke Spanish; Swahili; handled your French;

Italian; German; Arabic—crossing teas; dotting eyes…

But Caffie wrenched the gun from your hand—

putting her children in your hands—weaponizing

Us, instead of losing you—shooting some cop.

Made you magnificent mentor ‘stead of middling martyr— Community-building big

sis; ‘stead of forgotten #????????

We, younger brothers and sisters, stared as you strode lioness-like through sun shards

on “The Stem—”

Bunchy’s beloved Central Avenue! We watched

how you navigated an apartheid City of Angels—

Ruled by devils. Cuz we longed to make you proud…

We, younger brothers and sisters, watched as you walked the world down in wondrous

ways, from the feet of Elder/soldiers who’d fled up south from Hell.

We watched you seize the time as elder/soldier—

beautiful, statuesque, warrior woman—baddest,

blackest ‘fro this side of Angela. You came equipped! Skillsets/talents taking you

‘round the world in its wine,  weed, drums, dance, food, fashion funky-ness— even Porkchop torture! Your po’ kidneys/Pay or Die Disease-‘care!’

We, younger brothers and sisters, watched as you birthed Black beauty into our chalky

worlds. Our first live theater. Sitting in the dark. Eyes bugged out; hot young minds

blown… You on stage

Baldwin’s words in your mouth! You: Sister Boxer. Whitman Mayo: Brother

Boxer/your husband. We: Your Amen Cornerfor life…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Los Angeles
Black Panther Party

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Black Radicalism and the Return of the “Subversive Negro”
16 September 2026
NSPM-7 and the State Department's international campaign against "far-left political terrorism" represent new and more dangerous form
Michael Steven Smith
Meet the Radical Legal Collective That Won Justice for Fred Hampton and Continues Fighting to This Day
09 September 2026
Longtime attorney Flint Taylor’s new book tells the story of the People’s Law Collective, which grew out of the radical movements of the late 1
Karin Stanford
Afterlife of a Hijacker
11 August 2026
Former Black Panther Deputy Minister of Defense Byron Booth's journey from Compton to Cuba, Algiers to Lagos, reveals the global reac
Adam Mahoney
From Watts to D.C.: How 500 Black Neighborhoods Vanished in 45 Years
02 July 2025
America’s gentrified neighborhoods have lost 500,000 Black people, while gaining residents of every other race, a study finds.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Southern Panther Malik Rahim
14 May 2025
In “A Southern Panther,” movement elder Malik Rahim talks about his lifetime of battling ra
Lexis-Olivier Ray
Black People Make Up 75% Of All Weed Arrests At LAX, Data Shows
16 April 2025
Roughly a third of the people who were arrested by LAPD in the city of Los Angeles for cannabis-related offenses since 2020 were arrested in We
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The fire this time … (as Amiri tolt me)
29 January 2025
“Scratch a lie—find a thief !”
NY Panther 21
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
55th Anniversary of the NY Panther 21 Case
03 April 2024
The trial of the New York Panther 21 was the moment in the Black liberation movement that ushered in an era of intensified state repressio
Saturday Mornings
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Saturday Mornings
29 March 2023
                                         
Eddie Conway Tribute
Mali Collins
Eddie Conway Tribute
15 March 2023
The late Eddie Conway was a young member of the Black Panther Party who was framed for the killing of a police officer and spent more

More Stories


  • Colonial Contradiction of Haiti
    Erica Caines , Austin Cole
    The Unspoken Colonial Contradiction of Haiti
    01 Nov 2023
    The impending invasion of Haiti is the latest in a long line of colonial aggressions perpetrated against that nation.
  • “Civil Society Strengthening Program (CSSP)
    Travis Ross
    As MSS Tries to Subdue Haiti’s Resistance, USAID Will Assemble “Civil Society” Puppets
    01 Nov 2023
    USAID is a front for U.S. imperialism. In Haiti its creation of "civil society" projects will be used in service of the next plan for occupation.
  • A child is carried from an ambulance after a bombing
    U.S. Peace Council
    U.S. Peace Council Statement: End the Israeli-US Attack on the Palestinians of Gaza!
    01 Nov 2023
    A No-Fly Zone over Gaza would prevent the Israeli Air Force from continuing its war crime against the Palestinian people.
  • Representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) meet with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chair Yasser Arafat.
    Krys Cerisier
    Black Ties to Palestinian Liberation
    01 Nov 2023
    Most of the world's people are in solidarity with Palestine, but Black people in this country have a special bond born of common struggle.
  • Israeli Ambassador at the United Nations
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Israel Declares Most of Humanity Illegitimate and Irrelevant
    01 Nov 2023
    After 120 members of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israel demonstrated its increasing isolation by declaring the UN illegitimate and irrelevant.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us